Krishna and the Gopis (ceiling detail)

"Krishna has replicated himself  as lotus petals so that he can dance separately with each of the gopis (cow herding maidens) whose ecstasy speaks to their passionate devotion. These women personify the impermanent feminine energy (prakrti) that brings life to the material world, while existence itself is understood as “Krishna consciousness.” The  representation of space and the defined fields of color reflect an interest in abstraction present in early North Indian works".


(I think this is what this picture is about. Tessa knows the Bhagavad Gita, and she explained the ceiling illustration to me).


We've had the most wonderful day in Bundi!  After breakfast, still wearing jackets and many layers, we set off for  Chitrashal Ghar palace, just behind  our hotel. It is approached from a steeply sloping road with the 'cobbles' worn smooth.A vast 'elephant gate' stands near the entry. I've put that in extras, because I wanted to have a painting, not a building, as my main image. Up at the palace we met Russell, from our group, and he joined us. All agreed that this was an awe-inspiring palace: smaller in scale than City Palace in Udaipur and less crowded, but no less impressive and surprising. We were allowed into  a locked room of paintings of Lord Krishna, with a decorated ceiling, and as we went on we found more and more paintings and ceilings, a beautiful rooftop garden, and carvings, and windows overlooking the rest of the palace. It was truly enchanting, with not many visitors at all. The fort lay ahead of us, but we avoided it because of the tiger that had been seen strolling up there lately. It was also a very steep climb....


Back at the hotel, we threw off our thermals, and the lovely hotel owner ordered us an auto-rickshaw to take us on tour. We decided against the three-hour tour because that felt too long. Instead, the driver took us through the narrow streets of the old town and then out towards the big lake, Jait Sagar. We passed many motorbikes with brass pots hanging off the back. We never found out what was in them. The lake road was extremely shoogly. First stop was ( an ornate building overlooking the lake) that housed the museum. I'm kicking myself now that I didn't go in, because apparently Rudyard Kipling wrote one of his books whilst staying there! Damn, I wish I'd done my homework! We stopped at various points along the lakeside. The terraced garden was disappointing: as it's winter, few trees were in bloom, and it looked very concrete-y and manmade. The view from the top, over the lake and mountains, was worth the climb. The lake itself, though, was a bit weedy and might have done with dredging. I heard fishes splash in it, and I saw a bird that I think was a stork. There is a little temple in the lake, and apparently a ' fleeting fountain' according to my guide to Rajasthan. Maybe it had filtted already: we never saw it. There was a garden called Smriti Kunj, but we wanted it to be less dusty, and with a cafe! We'd been seduced by Annie's stories about her holiday on Lake Garda.


We left the lake, and went back to town, to the largest (?) Step well, Raniji Ki Baori. A step well is a very grand underground well, covered, with a magnificent entrance and portico. This one is 46 metres deep, with an imposing flight of stairs. People used to gather there to bathe. Modestly, with their clothes on. Down at the bottom, the pool water looked pretty dank, but we saw a turtle in the water, and a rat. A pipe led down to the well. We wondered in there were ever more water in it. It's covered, so the monsoon couldn't  just pour in. To give you an idea of the scale and grandeur of the architecture, when I looked back up the steps, I was reminded of the magnificence of Glasgow Central station ! As Russell said, it was built at a time of imposing architecture, when buildings were designed to impress, rather than being purely functional. The well is looked after by the Government body, so it had a garden, some litter bins, and was well-maintained. We paid  roughly 2 pounds UK to get in:, and got ourselves a an experience like no other. The rickshaw then took us out of town and back in via a viewpoint over the smaller lake, Nawal Sagar, and down over the railway line, through the old town, ending up at our hotel. We had lunch at the Indian rooftop restaurant where we ate yesterday (it's owned by the same family that run our hotel) and then went off to have some down time. I'd almost forgotten what that is....


I went up on the roof to where another group member, R was sitting. She warned me that a monkey was sneaking up on me. She then tried to shoo it away by clapping her hands and gesturing, but it bared its teeth at her and looked as if it would attack, then tried to grab her rucksack. A man on the other side of the roof came and shoved it off with a stick. He then asked R, 'Madam , please, something something monkey'. We took this to mean do not show aggression towards them. Leave it to the stick-man.


After that I went out again with the usual people and we found a restaurant where French people were eating. The windows were too dirty to see out over the lake, but I enjoyed my chicken and sweet corn soup, followed by cold coffee with ice cream. Strange but true. Annie tried to warn me not to eat chicken in case I'm sick on the bus tomorrow, but what the hell.... It was very spicy. The restaurant/hotel had a garden so we lingered there a while, then wandered bs k downtown. 


Tomorrow the Ram Hindu Temple at Ayodyah will be consecrated,  so towns are gearing up for a festival. There will be three days of public holidays. Today is decoration day. There are saffron flags, bunting and lights going up everywhere. This is controversial if you're a Muslim, and intensely political.https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/a-hindu-temple-built-atop-a-razed-mosque-in-india-is-helping-modi-boost-his-political-standing/ar-BB1h0VWQ?cvid=b3009898850f43298a9044d7f68445b4&ei=40. For Hindus , the mood is celebratory. We saw the army marching, children processing chanting Sri Ram, Jay Ram. The odd firework was going off. The energy was palpable. The lights are like Christmas lights, strung everywhere, in vivid colours. I'll put a shot in extras. 
'Tomorrow will be like Diwali' we have been told, but tomorrow we're on the move again, and will stay at a jungle lodge hotel. Maybe we can take our bus to town....